1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus configured to write RFID tag information to a RFID tag capable of wireless communication from/to the outside.
2. Description of the Related Art
A RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system having a reader/writer (reading/writing apparatus) which read/write information from/to a small-size RFID tag in a non-contact manner is known. For example, a RFID circuit element provided to a label-shaped RFID tag includes an IC circuit part for storing predetermined RFID tag information and an antenna configured to transmit/receive information, connected to the IC circuit part. With such an arrangement, the reader/writer can access (read/write) the RFID tag information even if the RFID tag has become dirty, or even if the RFID tag has come to be located at a position where it cannot be seen. Thus, it is anticipated that such a technique will be of practical use in various fields such as inventory control and manufacturing process inspection.
A known example of a writer (writing apparatus) configured to write information to the above-described RFID circuit element is disclosed in Patent Publication 1. In the reference, rectangular label chips are adhered onto a strip of tag tape (continuous label sheet) at a predetermined pitch and the strip of the tag tape is fed out from a tag tape roll (roll unit). At the time of the feeding, predetermined RFID tag information created by the writing apparatus is transmitted toward an antenna of the RFID circuit element (RFID tag) contained within each label chip, and therefore the RFID tag information is serially written to each IC circuit part (IC chip) connected to the antenna.
Patent Publication 1: JP, A, 2003-208573 (Paragraphs 0015 to 0050, FIGS. 1 to 5)
In general, writing RFID tag information to a RFID circuit element involves a problem in a case of writing the information by using an unconditional writing command signal or the like. For example, in addition to the targeted RFID circuit elements to which the information is to be written, the information is also written to the IC circuit parts of other untargeted RFID circuit elements within the effective range of the radio signals transmitted from the antenna of the writing apparatus.
In particular, 125 kHz band and 13.56 MHz band used for communication with RFID tags provide only a short communication area, and therefore the use of the bands leads to restrictions in their use. Accordingly, the use of higher frequency bands such as a UHF band etc (830 to 930 MHz band, 2.45 GHz band etc.), which are often used in Europe and America, is being studied. Such high frequency bands provide a longer communication area, hence the use of that exacerbates the problems.
In the arrangement disclosed in the above-described prior art, a long distance is provided between a tag tape roll and the antenna of the writing apparatus in order to avoid erroneous writing as described above, and thereby it is attempted to prevent undesired writing to the RFID circuit elements in the tag tape roll other than the target tag circuit element. Therefore the arrangement leads to a problem of enlarging a whole size of the writing apparatus.